West Ham’s current injury situation appears less concerning than first feared, it has been reported by ExWHUEmployee.

The club had been plunged into a crisis following the 1-1 draw with Bristol City on 7th January – the FA Cup fixture which is being replayed tonight at Ashton Gate – with a considerable amount of injuries picked up during and prior to the game.

Firstly, Michail Antonio suffered a setback in training in the lead-up to the cup tie, with the striker understood to be out of action for around another month again as he recovers from a knee injury.

Then during the match at the London Stadium, Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen and Konstantinos Mavropanos all suffered injuries and were considered doubts for the next foreseeable run of matches.

Reporting on The West Ham Way Podcast, our co-host and club insider Ex however has provided an update on the state of play with regards to recoveries and potential return dates.

“As we had stated previously, Mavropanos’ injury was found to be only minor and the player has been training, with an expectation to be available for tonight’s match with Bristol City,” stated Ex.

“Unfortunately Antonio suffered a setback and his return was deemed to be around a month from when he sustained the reoccurance in training.

“In regards to Lucas Paqueta – this is still slightly a bit of the unknown as its not been officially diagnosed.

“Reports in the media suggested that it was 2 months for the Brazilian, but even the player himself on social media stated it wasn’t the case and called for people to ‘calm down’.

“My understanding form the club has always been a month, with the hope that he’ll recover quicker than that. We believe the situation is more positive than it was originally, with the player possibly back in action for the start of next month.

“It’s also a similar situation for Jarrod Bowen, with the ankle injury understood to be less serious than first feared. Things can change of course, but at this stage it looks like it could be a couple of weeks recovery period injury.

“As we understand it, there is an outside chance that Bowen could make the squad to face Sheffield United this Sunday.”

Mohammed Kudus has also returned to training for Ghana at the AFCON, however their opening match saw them lose to Cape Verde – arguably their weakest opponent in Group B.

An earlier than expected exit for Ghana would see Kudus return to West Ham from Tuesday 23rd January – if they fail to qualify for the knockout stages.

Ex has also advised that some senior members of the squad are carrying knocks going into the match against Bristol City tonight.